Rebuilding Wood Floor On Dinghy

[AdamHowie]

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[JimsCAL]

Did something similar many years ago to make a floor for an Inexpensive inflatable that didn't come with one. Worked out well. Just make sure you use marine or exterior plywood. Sealing the edges is key as thats where water can get in.

[Siamese]

Sounds good except for the pressure treated plywood. It's full of voids, and not really suited to any kind of marine use.

[Sabreman]

Yeah - don't be tempted to use PT ply even though it's a fraction of marine ply. It has too few plys, is crappy wood, and isn't made for immersion (even for short periods. That is, it's water resistant, not water proof.

Seal with 2 or 3 coats of West epoxy. Color the epoxy if desired. Will last forever. Round the edges liberally all around or you'll cut something that shouldn't be cut.

[MarkSF]

Originally Posted by Sabreman

Yeah - don't be tempted to use PT ply even though it's a fraction of marine ply. It has too few plys, is crappy wood, and isn't made for immersion (even for short periods. That is, it's water resistant, not water proof.

Seal with 2 or 3 coats of West epoxy. Color the epoxy if desired. Will last forever. Round the edges liberally all around or you'll cut something that shouldn't be cut.

If you don't epoxy, use a good marine exterior varnish. If you do, you still need varnish as the epoxy is not UV resistant. The varnish will serve to protect the epoxy from the UV. Plan on 3 coats of that too. Yes it takes a while!

[capecodda]

We did a replacement for one panel on an inflatable. Used marine ply, a router to round the edges, epoxy, then some marine deck paint (gray that matched to other floor boards pretty good). The deck paint had some non-skid stuff in it (like sand or something). Still holding up 3 years later.

[TQA]

Had much the same problem and got the cheap but waterproof rated ply. Three coats West epoxy thinned slightly on the edges, one on the flats and I painted them white using exterior grade paint to which I added some beach sand when doing the top centre bits only.

They were still good looking 3 years later and in daily use.

NB If you are in sunny climes DO NOT PAINT THEM A DARK COLOUR if you go barefoot.

[adamskiinasia]

Could someone explain to my feeble mind why regular plywood, if blasted with 3 coats or for that matter 5 coats of glass and epoxy is different than marine ply + 2 coats of glass and epoxy ? Isn't that like a kind of seal if you will ? Marine ply I'm assuming will never see the water either right ? Or does the water get past the glass, epoxy, gelcoat, undercoat and paint?? I want to build a boat but am unsure what happens when regular ply is used. Thank you

[JimsCAL]

Because marien and exterior plywoods are made with waterproof glue and regular interior plywood is not. At some point you will get cracks, dings, etc, that will let water in and interior plywood will quickly delaminate. Spend the few extra dollars.

[deniseO30]

On the other hand, I left a sheet of Luan underlayment in my back yard over a year. It twisted, curled, baked, and soaked.. started to rot.. never de-laminated. I believe all plywoods use a thermal set type of glue indoors or out. but the nature of plys is the problem more then the glues.